Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Wednesday, November 8th, 2016

Dear Mythology Kids,

If you missed class, we completed the following:
1. Students were given several different example regarding the "visual" component to the Underworld assignment that is due on Thursday, November 17th. Please communicate with someone in class regarding details prior to visiting with me.

2. Students were then introduced to the historical components regarding The Iliad by Homer.

This is one of the handouts that each student received during class. Please print it off as a word document and place it in the "handout" section of your notebook. communicate with someone in cass regarding the missed information.


 
Introduction:
What is an epic?

The Iliad is about:



Ilium:

Acheans:

The Odyssey is about:


Did the Trojan War actually take place and what was the cause?

Who discovered the ancient city of Troy?

“Road Map:”

“Schliemann's scar:”

Using a well read copy of The Iliad as his reference guide, Scheilmann chose a spot on the Asian 




coast of Turkey called the Mound of Hissarlik, and began digging for the famous city of Troy. In the course of four years, he uncovered nine successive cities built on top of each other. 


 The sixth city he declared the “City of Troy,” or as Schliemann called it the “Burnt City.” Later archaeologists through carbon dating and additional archaeological discoveries, proved that Schliemann's choice was accurate. What was once thought to be myth had been proven historically correct.


What we know about Homer.....

Many scholars have asked the question, “Were the epic poems of The Iliad and The Odyssey written by one poet or were they collective efforts on the part of several poets?” We will never know the answer to this question. Most scholars agree that “a Homer” existed, that he lived in the 8th or 9th century B.C., and that he was a well-known poet. Some references to Homer indicate that he was blind, which has been interpreted as a “sign of his greatness.” We know that Homer had a strong command of the written language, and that at one point he could see. His love for beauty and gory details are too advanced, especially for someone who might have been blind his entire life. He lived about 500 years after the events at Troy; therefore, the story he told was not original with him, but had been passed down in the oral tradition of the times.



Allow me to share two excerpts from The Iliad with you.

“...the spear of bronze went through

Below the brain and shattered the white bones,

Dashed out his teeth, and filled his eyes with blood;

And blood he spurted gaping through his mouth

And nose; and death's dark cloud encompassed him.”

Book XVI, lines 345-350



“Then answered Hector of the flashing helm,

His strength all gone: 'I beg thee by my life,

Thy knees, thy parents, leave me not for dogs

Of the Acheans by the ship to eat,

But rather take abundant stores of bronze and gold-

My king and queenly mother will give it thee-

And render back my body to my home,

So that the Trojans and the Trojans' wives

May give me due meed of fire in death.'



But scowling at him swift Achilles said,

“Do not entreat me, dog, by knees or parents ,

I only wish I had the heart and will

To hack the flesh off thee and eat it raw......”

Book XXII, lines 317-330


2. Students were then introduced to Henrik Scheilmann, the amateur archeologist who discovered Troy. Again, if you missed class, please obtain this information from a peer, or from the internet.
HOMEWORK:
1.  You will have a mythological allusions quiz on Friday. If you review the following myths and characters, then you will do well on the assessment....Aphrodiate, Prometheus, Orpheus, Antigone, Hephaestus, Oedipus, characters in Greek underworld
2. Written portion of Underworld assignment is due on Tuesday, November 15th.
3. Visual portion of Underworld assignment is due on Thursday, November 17th

Your FINAL exam!

Dear Mythology Kids, It's nice to "see" you again. Let me offer some "study guidance" for your final exam. Please ...